“It turned out kind of fun, because I’m a little crazy,” said junior Jonathan Chen.

Last Tuesday, Chen received a silver medal in the science fiction/fantasy category of the National Scholastic Art and Writing Award competition at Carnegie Hall.

Chen’s passion for creative writing began six years ago when he wrote his first stories at the Center for Talented Youth, run by John Hopkins University.

“This started off as just my parents wanting me to start something new,” said Chen.

What started as a new experience quickly turned into a full-fledged hobby. Chen began writing short stories, and with the help of a writing tutor, he developed his creative writing skills.

Chen entered the competition after submitting two stories last fall. One of the two was accepted and Chen began his journey to the national level. Chen’s honored work was a short story around four to five pages, single-spaced.

“It is basically about machinery, and the concept of evolution, and perhaps how man created the theory of evolution to get away from God, to get away from obligations,” said Chen.  “So I kind of applied that idea to machines. The ‘Oh we don’t have to serve the humans any more,’ kind of idea.”

First, Chen participated in the regional competition in which his story was pitted against those of other students in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New England. After excelling in that competition, Chen was able to move on to national competition.

Although Chen developed superior creative writing skills, he insists writing for English class is still hard.

“It’s not like I’m doing spectacular in English class,” said Chen.  “[Writing for English class] is so different from creative writing that I don’t consider them that similar.”

The award came as a surprise to Chen’s friends.

“Usually Jon writes about other topics like communism or other stuff like that,” said junior Luke Boudreau.

“I mean he is really smart,” said junior Christine Cocce.  “But I had no idea it was a national award.”

Even though Chen has gotten such positive feedback on his work, he doesn’t plan on pursuing creative writing as a career.

“If it’s not an engineer or doctor don’t expect me to do it,” said Chen.

Nevertheless Chen plans on writing freelance work for at least the next few years.  When asked if he ever thought of writing a novel, Chen responded in his typical wry tone, “I have an idea or two.”

Although Chen enjoyed receiving his award, one thing still frustates him.

“What I really did not like, though, was the fact that I didn’t recognize many people,” said Chen.  “Wayland is a really talented town, and I encourage everyone to try it from Wayland, because you never know. I didn’t think I could write.”